Theatre Royal Bath and A.C.T Team Up for World Premiere of 'My Life'

In a co-commission with Theatre Royal Bath, ten talented young actors from communities throughout the Bay Area come together for the world premiere of My Life in the Silents by acclaimed playwright Timothy Mason (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical on Broadway). Designed and directed by A.C.T. Young Conservatory Director Craig Slaight, My Life in the Silents continues the unique international artistic exchange between students from the United States and England. In this playful new comedy set in Hollywood's silent film era, a precocious teenager flees small-town Minnesota to chase her dream of becoming a movie star in Los Angeles-but discovers the road to fame isn't exactly paved with gold. My Life in the Silents is packed with fresh theatricality, silent film antics, vaudevillian flavor, and a cast of sparkling characters-including real-life celebrity gossip columnist Louella Parsons-all played by members of A.C.T.'s renowned Young Conservatory. My Life in the Silents plays November 1–8 at Zeum Theater, located at Yerba Buena Gardens (Fourth and Howard streets). Tickets are $15.50–$20.50 and are available by calling A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228 or online at www.act-sf.org.

This much-awaited fifth and final installment completes Mason's celebrated Young American Cycle, A.C.T.'s commissioned series of plays exploring the lives of young people during important times in American history. "By focusing on times of change in our history that have shaped youth culture, Timothy creates plays that transcend the 'children's theater' label," says Slaight, who has had a 20-year artistic relationship with Mason. "Timothy looks at the young characters in the play with incredible humor and empathy, as they strive to find who they are, fueled by the need to get up and get out and to surpass their roots. And I know our talented actors who are growing up in an idolized celebrity culture will be able to bring their own spin on the age-old ambition to make a mark in the world."

"Our ongoing collaboration with the A.C.T.'s incredible Young Conservatory is unique and the pinnacle of our work at the Theatre Royal Bath," says Lee Lyford, artistic director of the Young People's Theatre at Theatre Royal Bath, who will be directing the play later this year in England featuring Young People's Theatre members as part of the artistic partnership. "It has enabled us to work with the highest caliber of artists to produce outstanding work for and by young people, and My Life in the Silents is no exception."

Since 1999, A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory has nurtured uniquely successful international programs, working with organizations including London's Royal National Theatre, Zurich's Hochschule für Musik und Theater, and Theatre Royal Bath. The programs, which have facilitated international exchange programs and new play development, have resulted in commissions or co-commissions of new works from world-renowned playwrights including Constance Congdon and Mark Ravenhill. My Life in the Silents represents the Young Conservatory's fourth co-commission with Theatre Royal Bath. In preparation for this production, Young Conservatory actors hosted students from England this past summer to workshop the play with Mason himself, fostering an intimate relationship among the author, the Young Conservatory ensemble, and this production.  The artistic collaboration from the two companies will continue in the summer of 2009, when the Young People's Theatre students host their A.C.T. Young Conservatory counterparts in England in preparation for a world premiere play by up-and-coming Irish writer Ursula Rani Sarma.

A talented group of young Bay Area actors makes up the cast of My Life in the Silents, including Rachel Cunningham (Saint Ignatius College Preparatory), Hannah Gorman (Urban School of San Francisco), Haley Leitman (Bentley School), Kate Fox Marcom (recent graduate), Natasha Morris (San Francisco School of the Arts), Amy Munz (International High School), Katie Rich (Miramonte High School), Zack Scott (recent graduate), Ryan Semmelmayer (Foothill High School), and Forrest Tiffany (Saint Francis High School).

My Life in the Silents is Timothy Mason's fifth play for A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory and part of his two-decade-long collaboration with Slaight (Ascension Day, The Less Than Human Club, Time on Fire, Mullen's Alley). Mason's other plays have been produced by Circle Repertory Company in New York (where he was a company playwright), Actors Theatre of Louisville, South Coast Repertory, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Victory Gardens, Portland Stage Company, the Jungle Theater, and the Guthrie Theater Lab. A host of wonderful actors have created roles in his plays, including Julie Harris, Mary-Louise Parker, and Timothy Hutton. Mason has written many plays and musicals for young audiences, for the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis and the Seattle Children's Theatre. His musical, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical (with composer Mel Marvin), is the annual holiday production of San Diego's Old Globe Theatre and in October 2006 opened on Broadway. Mason is nearing the completion of his first novel, a fantasy-adventure for older kids called The Last Synapsid.

The A.C.T. Young Conservatory offers a broad range of theater training for young people aged 8 to 19. The ten sessions and four public productions offered throughout the year are designed to develop talent and creativity, as well as communication and cooperation skills, for young people with all levels of theater background. Working professional actors and directors lead students in a spectrum of classes, including acting, directing, voice and speech, musical theater, audition, and improvisation. Call 415.439.2444 or visit act-sf.org/conservatory for applications and information.

A.C.T.'s stage at Zeum Theater is dedicated to the development of new works, new forms, and new artists. A.C.T.@Zeum was launched in October 2001 with the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program's world-premiere staging of Marc Blitzstein's No for an Answer, directed by A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. Zeum Theater is the current home of the Young Conservatory New Plays Program and gives A.C.T. an additional stage for readings, workshops, rehearsals, and other aspects of new play and production development.

My Life in the Silents is made possible by a generous grant from The Bernard Osher Foundation with additional support provided by the Crescent Porter Hale Foundation and the David B. Gold Foundation.

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